★ News from July 2001:
Friday I did some late-night extra work on the film Men In Black II. While I never saw the first movie, I knew that it involved Big Willy Style, Tommy Lee Jones, some dark suits and some space aliens.
Sometimes doing extra work--which I consider similar to temp work for an actor--you encounter many real-life space aliens, in the form of extra-work actors. Fortunately, I didn't really find many of them that alien. Well, one girl . . . Nevermind.
I was a part of three different shots in SoHo. The first, I'm walking down the sidewalk next to a pizza place I think called Ben's, taking a left around the corner with my coupled-up girlfriend for the evening--Tara. I'm wearing a purple buttondown shirt and black slacks. Each time Tara and I rounded the corner, she was glaring at me as if we had been in a fight. I found this funny, but our expressions weren't very perceptible. The scene has Big Willy Style and Tommy Lee Jones crossing through an intersection and parking their fancy black car. Then they enter the pizza place I think.
Some excited folks might be entertained by my being within about six feet of Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones for a lot of the preparation for this shot. I was surprised at, given the large amounts of rubberneckers and onlookers in the area, how unsecure the set was, and that a passerby went right up to Will Smith and shook his hand while crew was around and Will was in the car! But gentlemanly, with his young bright smile, Will shook the guy's hand and treated the stargazer as if he had known him.
The next shot, I was pulled away from Tara by one of the production assistants. I was almost about to say "We're a couple!" but it's a good thing I didn't ... The PA escorted me and another extra to a costume trailer where they decked us in Men in Black suits! In the shot, of which we did a couple different versions, I'm either with another Man in Black at the trunk of a black car rummaging around in it, pulling out a cool thermal-detector-spacegun-looking thing or another thing which was essentially a gray booklamp, or walking up to the trunk from the pizza place then doing the rummaging.
The final take I did I was coupled up with a blond woman named Alex and we rounded the pizza corner from the other direction, then "recycled" back separately as the shot lingered on. I was completely exhausted by this point, as our call time was 6:30pm, and I got off the set at 3:10am.
For more information on Men In Black II, check out this link on the Internet Movie Database:
Men In Black II
IN OTHER NEWS:
1. My Sex & The City Episode
I made it onto the season premiere of Sex & The City; however, it was just a quick shot at the end of the restaurant scene in the beginning of the episode.
I pass through, just me, in the background, behind the woman talking to Kristin Davis. It's profile all the way of me.
2. Audition for Gods and Generals, the Prequel to Gettysburg
My pal Ted, who was in the famed movie Gettysburg, got me an audition for the prequel called Gods and Generals. They were holding the audtions at Ted's theater space, the MAP. Penthouse Theatre. I read for two characters on camera, one from the North and one from the South. I should find out in the next couple weeks whether I got a role in the $50M movie-of-the-week. Wish me luck!
3. Upright Citizens Brigade Show Goes Well
My last UCB show for some time was June 28th, in which I participated in its "New Team Harold" show. I had a blast, and the big audience was collectively "a real trooper" given that the UCB air conditioning was broken and it's been very hot in NYC recently. Jennifer Jones of Carol Hanzel Casting came on my invitation to see, and it turns out, she's best friends with a friend of mine, Kevin R. Free!